Fused container closure and means facilitating removal of the same

ABSTRACT

The disclosure is directed to a container having a pouring neck and a closure member covering and fused to the peripheral lip surrounding the pouring opening to provide a tamperproof sealed container. The portion of the container neck and peripheral lip are reduced to the juncture thereof to facilitate grasping of the closure member to remove the same.

United States Patent 11113,632,004

[72] Inventors Donald W.Grimes [56] References Cited 31 h lboh m H PUNITED STATES PATENTS [21] A [No x 2,423,295 7/1947 Crabbeetal. 215/31x[22] f Se 1969 2,937,481 5/1960 Palmer 215/40ux Patented 5 3,335,9238/1967 Healy 215/40ux [73] mm sheilflcompm 3,501,042 3/1970 Rischetal.215/40 New York, N.Y. Primary ExaminerGeorge T. Hall Attorneys-Colton &Stone and Joseph W. Brown [54] FUSED CONTAINER CLOSURE AND MEANSFACILITATING REMOVAL OF THE SAME ABSTRACT: The disclosure is directed toa container having 17 Claims, 12 Drawing Figs. a pouring neck and aclosure member covering and fused to [52] US. Cl 215/40, the PeripheralP ing the pouring opening to provide R a tamperproof sealed container.ThB pOl'tiQn Of the container 51 1m. (:1 .f ..B d 23/00 neck and areeduced theluncure 865d 53/06 facilitate grasping of the closure memberto remove the same. [50] Field of Search 2l5/40, 56,

Pmmmm 4m 3.632.004

INVENTOR S.

DONALD W. GRIMES WAYNE P MICHAEL ATTORNEYS.

FUSED CONTAINER CLOSURE AND MEANS FACILITATING REMOVAL OF THE SAME Thepresent invention relates to hermetically sealed tamperproof plasticcontainers wherein a plastic closure is integrally fusion bonded acrossthe container neck opening. Exemplary of such prior tamperproofcontainers is that described in US. Pat. No. 2,937,481.

The aforesaid patent discloses a plastic bottle having a plastic closuremember in the form of a diaphragm fusion bonded across the neck openingthereof. After filling of the bottle the periphery of the plasticdiaphragm is maintained in pressure engagement with the periphery of thepouring lip and the same is inductively heated to fuse the bottle anddiaphragm. In order to insure proper placement of the plastic diaphragm,appropriate heat transfer properties and pressure engagement of thediaphragm with the bottle lip, a laminated assembly is formed with theplastic diaphragm which includes overlying metal and paper discs in theform illustrated and for the purpose described in the aforesaid patent.The laminated disc structure is then placed in sealing position over thebottle lip and a conventional screw cap holds the assembly in place withthe periphery of the plastic diaphragm in pressure engagement with thepouring lip. The laminated structure is normally supplied in sheet formand the laminated discs are struck therefrom as a unit handledassemblage.

All of the foregoing is disclosed in the aforesaid patent and referencemay be had thereto for further details regarding the various materialsthat may be utilized in the practice of the present invention as well asthe precise method of forming the fusion bond by induction heating. Theimprovement resident in the present invention is a reduction inthickness of the container neck wall and pouring lip at the junctionthereof to facilitate grasping of the closure member to remove the same.

Tamperproof containers of the type described in the aforesaid patenthave not enjoyed widespread commercial success primarily because of thedifficulty involved in removing the fusion-bonded closure. In the caseof the prior art containers it has been necessary to rupture the sea],as opposed to peeling it off, because there was not a sufiicientperipheral area of the closure exposed to permit grasping of the same.In the case of a widely used and much handled commodity such as a milkcontainer, for example, the disadvantages in the unsightly appearanceand deformed pouring opening created by rupturing the closure areobvious.

The use of an oversize closure member to present a larger peripheralgrasping area whereby the same might be peeled from the pouring lipwould necessarily require that the backing discs of metal and paper alsobe oversize since the laminate is struck from a single sheet which isclearly impractical for the reason that an oversize assemblage would notfit within a properly sized screw cap and would, further, result inbonding of the extended peripheral portion of the closure to the outerwalls of the neck during the inductive heating step.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a tamperproofcontainer wherein a fusion-bonded closure member may be readily peeledfrom the neck opening.

Further objects are to provide a tamperproof container possessing thepouring characteristics of conventional containers employing nonintegralclosures and to avoid the unsightly appearance of the ragged edges of aruptured closure adherent to the pouring lip.

The foregoing objects are achieved by locally reducing the thickness ofa container neck wall and pouring lip at the juncture thereof wherebythe fusion-bonded closure may be grasped and peeled off.

The invention may assume a variety of forms and in the case, forexample, of a generally cylindrical container neck may range from acomplete circumferential reduction in neck wall and lip thickness to amore localized area of wall and lip reduction comprising the formationof a notch extending throughout less than 90 of the circumferentialextent of the neck wall.

The various notch configurations herein disclosed may vary widely inform and extent, the important factor being that for various sizecontainers and fabricating procedures a particular notch configurationmay present particular advantages though all of such notches as well asthe complete circumferential reduction in wall and lip thickness servethe function of exposing a sufficiently large peripheral or localizedarea of the closure to be grasped and peeled from the container neckopening while yet insuring that the neck wall thickness at the pouringlip is sufficient to insure structural integrity and the formation of afusion bond with the closure member.

In the drawings:

FIG. I is a broken perspective view of a plastic container having a neckwhose wall and lip thickness are reduced at the junction thereofthroughout their peripheral extent;

FIG. 2 is a broken cross-sectional view of a bottle neck, constructed asin FIG. 1, as it would appear prior to a fusion bonding step;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 after completion of the bonding step;

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of a container neck wall exhibitinga tapered notch;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, partially broken away, taken along line 55of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of a container neck wall exhibitinga square notch;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of a container neck wall exhibitinga radiused notch;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view of a container neck wall in whichis formed an axially elongated notch interrupting the thread thereon;

FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view of a container neck wall providedwith a modified tapered notch wherein the end walls thereof are flared;and

FIG. 12 is a broken top plan view of the container neck shown in FIG. 11 illustrating the flared notch end walls.

In FIG. I is illustrated a first container neck wall and lipconfiguration that may be utilized in the practice of the invention andFIGS. 2 and 3 depict subsequent stages'of assembly in the formation ofan integrally bonded closure member with the neck structure shown inFIG. 1.

The plastic container 10 depicted in FIG. I is provided with anupstanding neck 12 terminating in a peripheral pouring lip 14 defining apouring opening. The pouring opening is adapted to be hermeticallysealed by a plastic closure I6 herein illustrated in the form of acircular diaphragm having a diameter substantially equal to the outerdiameter of the neck wall. The outer surface of the neck wall isprovided with a helical thread 18 for the reception of a conventionalscrew cap 20 which, in addition to serving as a removable closure aftersealed closure 16 is removed, provides the necessary positioning andpressure engagement of closure member 16 with peripheral lip 14 duringthe formation of a fusion bond therebetween. Thus, as described in US.Pat. No. 2,937,481, a circular laminated assembly 21 consisting ofplastic closure 16, an intennediate metallic disc 22, preferably in theform of aluminum foil or the like and a cushioning disc member 23 suchas paper or the like is retained on lip 14 with diaphragm 16 in pressureengagement therewith as indicated in FIG. 2 prior to an inductiveheating step to effect the fusion of closure 16 to lip 14 indicated inFIG. 3.

The tamperproof, hermetically sealed container is then ready formarketing with the neck assemblage as indicated in FIG. 3. When thecontainer is to be opened the screw cap is removed and paper disc 23normally adheres thereto leaving plastic closure 16 and its overlyingdisc or foil 22 exposed. The foil disc is nonnally peeled from thecontainer opening along with plastic closure 16.

In order to provide the necessary peripheral grasping surface to enablea consumer to grasp and peel closure member 16 from the neck opening,the thickness of neck wall 12 and pouring lip 14 have been reducedthroughout the entire peripheral extent of the radially outermostjuncture thereof. In

the FIG. 1 embodiment this reduction in wall and lip thickness consistsof a circumferentially continuous bevel or taper 24.

The remaining embodiments, depicted in FIG. 4-12, rely on a single notchto provide the desired reduction in wall and lip thickness; such notchextending throughout a sufiicient peripheral extent of the pouring lipto enable one to grasp and remove the closure. The notched configurationhas the advantage that a greater surface area of contact may be obtainedbetween the lip and closure to facilitate the fusion-bonding operation.

As will be obvious, a wide variety of notch configurations may beutilized in the practice of the invention. Thus, the notchconfigurations shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 8 terminate well above theuppermost extent of helical thread 18 and exhibit tapered, perpendicularand curvilinear surfaces 26, 28, 30 in cross section, respectively,extending between spaced end walls 32, 34, 36 which end walls may extendsubstantially perpendicular to a tangent to the circumference of neck12. The embodiment shown in FIG. 10 is similar to that of FIG. 4 butwherein the tapered notch is greatly elongated in the direction of thecontainer axis to interrupt helical thread 18. The FIG. 10 embodimentnot only affords more ready access to the undersurface of afusion-bonded closure grasping location. The bottle neck shown in FIGS.11 and 12 also exhibits a tapered notch similar to that of FIG. 4 butwherein the sidewalls 38 are flared. This latter configuration permitsthe use of a notch having a lesser peripheral extent than thosepreviously described while yet providing ready gripping access to theunderside of the closure.

Each of the container neck configurations is assembled with its closuremember and fusion bonded in the same manner as described in connectionwith the FIG. 1 embodiment. The extent of neck wall and lip reduction,in each case, is normally greater than half the thickness of neck 12 andmay advantageously comprise a wall reduction of 65 percent -75 percentwhen measured at the plane of the pouring lip. in general, it will bedesirable to effect a maximum reduction in wall thickness consistentwith maintenance of the structural integrity of neck wall 12.

We claim:

1. In a sealed plastic container having a peripheral wall defining aneck terminating in a peripheral lip with a plastic closure fused tosaid lip about the periphery thereof, the improvement comprising; meansproviding grasping access to said closure for peeling the closure offthe lip, said means comprising at least a portion of said neck wall andsaid lip being reduced in thickness at the juncture thereof.

2. The sealed container of claim 1 wherein the thickness of said neckwall at the reduced portion thereof is less than half the thickness ofthe remainder of said neck wall.

3. The sealed container of claim 1 wherein said reduced portion isdefined by a bevel extending throughout the peripheral extent of saidjuncture.

4. The sealed container of claim 1 wherein the reduced portion of saidneck wall and lip is confined to substantially less than half theperipheral extent of the juncture thereof.

5. The sealed container of claim 4 wherein said reduced portioncomprises a notch defined between spaced end walls.

6. The sealed container of claim 5 wherein said notch presents a planarsurface in cross section.

7. The sealed container of claim 5 wherein said notch presents acurvilinear surface in cross section.

8. The sealed container of claim 5 wherein said notch presentssubstantially perpendicular surfaces in cross section.

9. The sealed container of claim 5 wherein said end walls aresubstantially perpendicular to respective tangents to said neck wall.

10. The sealed container of claim 5 wherein said end walls are flared.

11. The sealed container of claim 5 wherein said neck wall includes anexternal thread spaced from said lip and said notch terminating short ofsaid thread.

12. The seale container of claim 5 wherein said neck wall includes anexternal thread spaced from said lip and said notch interrupts saidthread.

13. The sealed container of claim 1 wherein the reduction in neck wallthickness extends inwardly from the outer neck wall surface andterminate short of the inner neck wall surface.

14. The sealed container of claim 13 wherein the thickness of said neckwall at the reduced portion thereof intersecting said lip is less thanhalf the thickness of the remainder of said neck wall.

15. The sealed container of claim 14 wherein the reduced neck wallportion provides a nonconvex surface.

16. The sealed container of claim 1 wherein the closure is autogenouslybonded to the lip.

17. The sealed container of claim 1 wherein the closure extends nofarther than the surface of the neck wall of unreduced thickness.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 632004- Dated January 4. 1972 Invent Donald W. Grimes and Wayne P. MichaelIt is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent andthat said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Abstract, line 4: Change "The" to --A--.

Column 2, linel3: Change "junction" to --juncture-.

Column 3, line 23: Change "closure grasping" to --closure but alsoprovides an obvious visual indication of the closure grasping--.

Claim 13, line 3: Change "surface and" to --surface to intersect saidlip and-.

Signed and sealed .this 23rd day of May 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER, JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioneof Patents Abstract, line 5: Change "reduced to" to --reduced at the--.

-' ORM PO-1050 (10-69) USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 us GOVERNMENT PRINTINGOFFICE: I969 0-366-334

1. In a sealed plastic container having a peripheral wall defining aneck terminating in a peripheral lip with a plastic closure fused tosaid lip about the periphery thereof, the improvement comprising; meansproviding grasping access to said closure for peeling the closure offthe lip, said means comprising at least a portion of said neck wall andsaid lip being reduced in thickness at the juncture tHereof.
 2. Thesealed container of claim 1 wherein the thickness of said neck wall atthe reduced portion thereof is less than half the thickness of theremainder of said neck wall.
 3. The sealed container of claim 1 whereinsaid reduced portion is defined by a bevel extending throughout theperipheral extent of said juncture.
 4. The sealed container of claim 1wherein the reduced portion of said neck wall and lip is confined tosubstantially less than half the peripheral extent of the juncturethereof.
 5. The sealed container of claim 4 wherein said reduced portioncomprises a notch defined between spaced end walls.
 6. The sealedcontainer of claim 5 wherein said notch presents a planar surface incross section.
 7. The sealed container of claim 5 wherein said notchpresents a curvilinear surface in cross section.
 8. The sealed containerof claim 5 wherein said notch presents substantially perpendicularsurfaces in cross section.
 9. The sealed container of claim 5 whereinsaid end walls are substantially perpendicular to respective tangents tosaid neck wall.
 10. The sealed container of claim 5 wherein said endwalls are flared.
 11. The sealed container of claim 5 wherein said neckwall includes an external thread spaced from said lip and said notchterminating short of said thread.
 12. The sealed container of claim 5wherein said neck wall includes an external thread spaced from said lipand said notch interrupts said thread.
 13. The sealed container of claim1 wherein the reduction in neck wall thickness extends inwardly from theouter neck wall surface to intersect said lip and terminate short of theinner neck wall surface.
 14. The sealed container of claim 13 whereinthe thickness of said neck wall at the reduced portion thereofintersecting said lip is less than half the thickness of the remainderof said neck wall.
 15. The sealed container of claim 14 wherein thereduced neck wall portion provides a nonconvex surface.
 16. The sealedcontainer of claim 1 wherein the closure is autogenously bonded to thelip.
 17. The sealed container of claim 1 wherein the closure extends nofarther than the surface of the neck wall of unreduced thickness.